Mom thinks that he could become sterile due to this. Is this true? (I have no clue).
Thanks for the advice!

Mayo Clinic Article

I don't know, but if it's true...how do I get Shingles?

Very painful.

Vasectomy is easier.

Very rare for that to happen.



Shingles is a weird disease closely related to herpes, it lives in the nerves and shows up on certain occasions...



My advice is to get him on a serious cardio program and sweat that thing out.



Make sure the diet is in check too.



There really isn't anything more one can do, albeit without meds.

Shingles are a recurrent infection of the Varicella-Zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.  They usually occur when dormant virus in the nerve cells reactivate and cause a new infection.  It will usually go away on its own, although it will hurt like hell.



Like all Herpesviruses, the virus is sensitive to acyclovir and valcyclovir (Valtrex), which can shorten the infection and reduce the chance for recurrent infections.  However, most docs won't prescribe either drug for shingles unless it is a severe infection.

Never heard of that.  It's just chickenpox.

I have significant scarring from childhood shingles. Looks like a burn scar on my chest. Boy did that suck.



Second bout with it as an adult only left me with a non-pigmented patch. It was nowhere near as bad.



Shingles can really fuck you up. She may be thinking of mumps, which sterilized a lot of people.

Did the doctor put him on acyclovir or famvir?  If not, why not?

I had shingles (a form of.....herpes!) before.  Anyone who has had chicken pox can get shingles, it lays dormant.  It is basically adult chickenpox. And they really weren't bad, more so of a scary rash than anything.  I got lucky, along my side and arm, very little pain.  No, shingles dont  lead to sterility.

I had shingles on the right side of my head about 4 years ago and it was a very painful experience.  My doc put me on Valtrex for a week and it improved fairly quickly.  I still occasionally experience some tingling in that area.

Shingles is a re-awakening of the chicken pox virus.  Chicken pox is on the herpes family, once you have chicken pox it stays with you forever but usually doesn't flare up again.  It is said stress, illness or injury can cause the chicken pox virus to re-awaken.  The virus awakens in the nerves, and whatever part of the body those nerves lead to is where the shingles will appear.  They will not spread.  They look like really bad acne abbesses or blisters and they hurt.  I cannot describe how painful they are.  Zyclovir (not sure on spelling) an anti-viral med, can help lessen the severity of the outbreak.  It can last a few days to several weeks.  Pain meds and hot water/vinegar compresses can help with the pain.  My doctor prescribed oxycontin, but to be honest the meds didn't help the pain much.  I was also on steroid eye drops (I had shingles on the left side of my face, including my eye, the drops were to prevent cornea scarring).
I asked about the risks of sterility and contagiousness , and was told I had nothing to worry about.
I have light scarring on my face, plus some nerve damage––numb areas on my forehead ––and a droopy eyelid.  Hope the recovery is quick.  In all honesty, if not for my kids, if I got shingles again I'd probably eat a bullet, it was that freaking bad an experience.

I had shingles over Christmas break in 9th grade.  A specialist said it was the worst case he had seen.  They suck.

Thread is useless without pics

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Disclaimer: I do work for this company but I do hope it can help.